PPWR obligations: manufacturer, importer, distributor — and the micro-enterprise rule

Most PPWR summaries answer the question “what must the packaging comply with?” The more expensive question is: which of us has to prove it? The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40 has applied since 12 August 2026, and with it a role model built on the New Legislative Framework pattern: manufacturer, supplier, importer, distributor, authorised representative, fulfilment service provider. Each role carries its own package of duties, and the allocation follows what actually happens, not what the letterhead says.

Two rules invert the expectation. An importer or distributor who puts their own brand on packaging becomes the manufacturer and owes the full conformity file. And a micro-enterprise that has packaging made under its own name is precisely not the manufacturer — that role moves to the EU supplier. Both rules decide who keeps the technical documentation that later feeds a digital product passport.

---

Key takeaways

• The PPWR asks “who” twice, separately. The conformity chain (Articles 15 to 22) governs who places compliant packaging on the market and documents it. The EPR chain (Articles 44 to 47) governs who registers and pays. The same company can carry duties in one chain and not the other.
• You become a manufacturer three ways: by actually manufacturing, by having packaging made under your own name or trademark (Art. 3(13)(a)), or by rebranding or modifying packaging already placed on the market (Art. 21).
• The micro-enterprise rule reverses that. Where the own-brand holder is a micro-enterprise under Recommendation 2003/361/EC and the supplier is located in the Union, the supplier is deemed to be the manufacturer (Art. 3(13)(b), Art. 15(12), Art. 21 second subparagraph). If the supplier sits in a third country, the rule does not apply.
• This is a shift, not an exemption. The duty does not disappear; it changes addressee. There is no general SME exemption from Articles 15 to 22 in the PPWR.
• Retention: 5 years for single-use packaging, 10 years for reusable packaging — for the technical documentation and the declaration of conformity (Art. 15(3), Art. 17(2), Art. 18(7)) and for the supply-chain traceability duty under Art. 22.
• Authority requests must be answered within 10 days (Art. 15(10), Art. 17(2)(d), Art. 18(8)) — electronically, and on request also on paper.
• Manufacturer details may live in the QR code. Article 15(6) expressly allows the name, registered trade name or trademark and postal address to be provided through a QR code or another data carrier under Art. 12.
• The distributor has to check the producer register. Article 19(2)(a) requires them to verify, before making packaging available, that the producer subject to EPR is registered in the register referred to in Article 44 — and to use the producer’s information solely to verify compliance (para. 4).
• There are two different authorised representatives. The one in Article 17 is a conformity role. The “authorised representative for extended producer responsibility” in Article 45(3) is an EPR role, per Member State. Confusing them leaves a gap.
• Genuine micro-enterprise relief exists in three places: Annex V formats (Art. 25(4)), re-use targets at up to 1 000 kg per year and Member State (Art. 29(13)) and the take-away re-use offer (Art. 33(4)).

Two “who” questions — and why they must be answered separately

The PPWR lays two chains of duty on top of each other, using different vocabulary.

The conformity chain in Chapter IV asks: does the packaging meet the requirements of Articles 5 to 12, and who demonstrates it? The roles here are manufacturer, supplier, authorised representative, importer, distributor, fulfilment service provider. Article 3(12) groups them under the term economic operator. The counterparty is the market surveillance authority.

The EPR chain in Chapter VIII asks: who makes packaging available on the territory of a Member State for the first time and therefore finances its collection and treatment? The term is producer, defined in Article 3(15). The counterparties are the register authority and the producer responsibility organisation.

The difference is not academic. A German carton converter selling only business-to-business is a manufacturer in the conformity chain and must keep the Annex VII file — it becomes a producer in the EPR sense only for the packaging types listed in Article 3(15)(a). Conversely, an online retailer reselling pre-packed branded goods is a distributor with verification duties in the conformity chain (Art. 19) — yet it can still be a producer in the EPR chain if it makes the goods available on the territory for the first time.

The rule of thumb: the conformity chain follows the packaging, the EPR chain follows the market.

Who is the manufacturer? Three routes into the same role

Article 3(13) defines the manufacturer as any natural or legal person that manufactures packaging or a packaged product. Two extensions hang off that, and in practice they matter more than the base case.

Route 1 — actual manufacture. The packaging producer that physically makes the packaging.

Route 2 — own brand. Where a person has packaging or a packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, that person is the manufacturer — regardless of whether any other trademark is visible on the packaging. This is the rule that captures retail brands, private labels and brand-carrying secondary packaging.

Route 3 — rebranding or modification. Article 21, first subparagraph: where an importer or distributor places packaging on the market under its own name or trademark or modifies packaging already placed on the market in a way that could affect compliance, that operator is considered to be a manufacturer and is subject to the obligations of Article 15.

The third route is routinely underestimated, because “modifies” is not defined. Practically relevant cases: repacking bulk into retail units, re-banding, applying additional labels or sleeves, replacing an inner packaging, building bundles. The threshold is low — it is enough that compliance could be affected.

The micro-enterprise rule: why the manufacturer’s duty lands on the supplier

This is the exemption the PPWR deliberately created for the smallest operators. It appears in identical wording in three places: in the definition (Art. 3(13)(b)), in the manufacturer’s obligations themselves (Art. 15(12)) and in the rebranding case (Art. 21, second subparagraph).

The mechanism in one sentence: where the person having packaging designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark is a micro-enterprise — and the person supplying that packaging is located in the Union — the supplier is deemed to be the manufacturer.

Three conditions must coincide:

1. Micro-enterprise within the meaning of Recommendation 2003/361/EC as applicable on 11 February 2025: fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of at most EUR 2 million.
2. Own-brand constellation: the packaging or packaged product is designed or manufactured under the person’s own name or trademark.
3. Supplier located in the Union. This is the hardest condition.

The consequence is uncomfortable: a micro-enterprise sourcing its own-brand packaging from a third country remains the manufacturer with all the duties of Article 15 — conformity assessment under Article 38, technical documentation under Annex VII, EU declaration of conformity under Article 39, retention, series-production controls, corrective measures. The exemption does not reward smallness; it rewards sourcing inside the single market.

For the EU supplier the reverse applies: it can be pulled into the manufacturer role without seeking it, simply because its customer is a micro-enterprise. Packaging suppliers serving small own-brand accounts should price and model that, rather than discover it with the first letter from an authority.

One detail about reach: in Article 15(12) and Article 21, second subparagraph, the shift applies expressly “for the purposes of this Article” and “for the purposes of Article 15” respectively. The EPR duties in Chapter VIII are untouched by it.

What the manufacturer owes: Article 15 in detail

Paragraph	Duty
1	Place only conforming packaging on the market (requirements under Art. 5 to 12)
2	Carry out or have carried out the conformity assessment under Art. 38; draw up the technical documentation under Annex VII; where conformity is demonstrated, draw up the EU declaration of conformity under Art. 39
3	Keep documentation and declaration: 5 years (single-use), 10 years (reusable) from placing on the market
4	Procedures for series production; where design, characteristics, harmonised standards or specifications change and conformity could be affected, carry out a re-assessment
5	Type, batch or serial number or other identification element; where size or nature does not allow it, provide the information in an accompanying document
6	Name, registered trade name or trademark, postal address and, where available, electronic means of contact; also via a QR code or other data carrier under Art. 12 or in an accompanying document. The postal address must indicate a single point of contact
7	Information must be clear, understandable and legible, and must not replace, obscure or be confused with labelling required by other Union law
8	Where non-conformity is suspected: immediate corrective measures (bring into conformity, withdraw or recall) and immediate notification of the market surveillance authority
9	Derogation: no duty to bring into conformity, withdraw or recall reusable packaging placed on the market before 11 February 2025
10	On reasoned request from a national authority, all information and documentation in a language easily understood; electronic, on request also paper; available within 10 days
11	Paragraphs 2 and 3 do not apply to custom-made transport packaging for configurable medical devices and medical systems used in industrial and healthcare environments
12	Micro-enterprise rule: the EU supplier is deemed to be the manufacturer

Two paragraphs deserve particular attention.

Paragraph 4 is the duty that breaks in daily operations. It requires not a document but a procedure: who changes the ink, who the adhesive, who the recycled content — and who decides whether that triggers a re-assessment under Article 38? Without a named owner, the Annex VII file ages silently.

Paragraph 6 is the bridge to the data carrier. The regulation permits manufacturer details to sit in the QR code instead of on the packaging. Anyone building the carrier for Article 12 labelling anyway can carry the identification data from paragraphs 5 and 6 in the same record.

The supplier (Article 16): the lever the manufacturer needs

Article 16 is short and therefore easy to miss. Suppliers of packaging or packaging materials must provide the manufacturer with all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate conformity — including the technical documentation under Annex VII required under or pursuant to Articles 5 to 11, in a language the manufacturer easily understands, on paper or electronically. For contact-sensitive packaging, the documentation required under the applicable Union law forms part of that delivery.

In practice this is the legal basis for putting upstream suppliers on the hook. A request that names Article 16 expressly and lists the required evidence per component is a different instrument from asking for a “letter of compliance”. Evidential value only arises once the declaration refers to Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and the specific requirement — covered in detail in the article on the PPWR declaration of conformity.

Authorised representative: two roles that get confused

The PPWR contains two mutually independent authorised representatives. Appointing only one leaves an exposed flank, depending on the case.

The authorised representative under Article 17 — a conformity role. The manufacturer may appoint one by written mandate. The mandate must allow at least: keeping the declaration of conformity and the technical documentation at the disposal of market surveillance authorities (5 years single-use, 10 years reusable), cooperating with authorities on non-compliance, providing information and technical documentation on reasoned request in an easily understood language, making documents available within 10 days, and terminating the mandate if the manufacturer acts contrary to its obligations.

Two things cannot be delegated: the obligation in Article 15(1) to place only conforming packaging on the market, and drawing up the technical documentation under Annex VII. The authorised representative is a custodian and contact point, not the bearer of the conformity duty.

The authorised representative for extended producer responsibility under Article 45(3) — an EPR role. Here appointment is mandatory in defined cases, not optional: a producer within the meaning of Article 3(15)(c) or (d) must appoint, by written mandate, an EPR authorised representative in every Member State where it makes packaging or packaged products available for the first time and where it is not established. Member States may additionally require third-country producers to appoint one.

The difference in one line: Article 17 is one for the file, Article 45(3) is one per country for the register.

The importer (Article 18): a four-point incoming check

“Importer” is narrowly defined (Art. 3(17)): a person established within the Union that places packaging from a third country on the market. Buying inside the Union does not make you an importer but a distributor — with the lighter duty package of Article 19.

Before placing packaging on the market, the importer must ensure four things under Article 18(2):

1. The manufacturer has carried out the conformity assessment under Article 38 and drawn up the technical documentation under Annex VII for the requirements of Articles 5 to 11.
2. The packaging is labelled in accordance with Article 12.
3. The required documents accompany the packaging.
4. The manufacturer has complied with Article 15(5) and (6) — identification element and manufacturer details.

Doubt triggers a stop: the importer must not place the packaging on the market until it has been brought into conformity. On top of that come the importer’s own details on the packaging (para. 3: name, registered trade name or trademark, postal address and, where available, electronic means of contact — where space does not allow, via the data carrier under Article 12 or in an accompanying document), storage and transport conditions that do not jeopardise conformity (para. 5), corrective measures with notification (para. 6), keeping a copy of the declaration of conformity at the authorities’ disposal and ensuring the technical documentation can be made available for 5 or 10 years (para. 7), and the 10-day response (para. 8).

The practical core: the importer does not have to create its own Annex VII file, but it must be able to show that one exists and that it can reach it. A contract silent on that access is the most common gap.

The distributor (Article 19): a register check and a use prohibition

A distributor is, under Article 3(18), any person in the supply chain other than the manufacturer or importer that makes packaging available on the market. Article 19(1) first requires acting with due care. Concretely, three checks come before making packaging available:

1. The producer subject to EPR is registered in the register of producers referred to in Article 44.
2. The packaging is labelled in accordance with Article 12.
3. The manufacturer and importer have complied with Article 15(5) and (6) and Article 18(3) respectively.

Point 1 is new in this explicitness: the PPWR makes the upstream party’s registration something the distributor has to check. Article 44(13) requires the list of registered producers to be easily accessible, publicly available and free of charge, so the check is designed to be reasonable. For marketplaces and larger distributors this is where supplier onboarding becomes a compliance duty.

Paragraph 4 is notable: information disclosed by the producer may be used by the distributor solely to verify compliance. Commercial use is expressly prohibited. Anyone feeding supplier data into assortment or private-label decisions should know that boundary.

Fulfilment service providers and online marketplaces

Article 20 is the shortest obligation in the regulation: fulfilment service providers must ensure that the conditions during warehousing, handling, packing, addressing and dispatching do not jeopardise the packaging’s compliance with the requirements of Articles 5 to 12. Climate-controlled storage, repacking into own shipping cartons, applying shipping labels — this is where the contact point with the rebranding and modification case in Article 21 arises.

On the EPR side, the regulation attacks free-riding. Under Article 45(4), providers of online platforms that allow consumers to conclude distance contracts with producers must obtain two things before allowing use of their services: the registration information under Article 44 in the consumer’s Member State including the registration number, and a self-certification by the producer that it complies with the EPR requirements there. Under paragraph 6 the platform must make best efforts to assess whether that information is complete and reliable; paragraph 5 allows Member States to provide for automated reconciliation with the national register. Under paragraph 7, producers must provide the same information to their fulfilment service providers.

Article 22: proving the supply chain in both directions

Article 22 obliges all economic operators to tell market surveillance, on request, who supplied them with packaging or packaged products and to whom they supplied. The ability to provide the upstream information must last 5 years (single-use) or 10 years (reusable) from the respective supply.

This is a data duty, not a document duty — and it reaches operators with otherwise minimal PPWR exposure. Anyone tracking packaging in an ERP system without batch reference cannot meet it when it matters. The link to the identification element in Article 15(5) is obvious: type, batch or serial number is the key that makes supply relationships attributable at all.

Producers, the register and the deadline still open

The EPR side hangs on the term producer in Article 3(15). It covers manufacturers, importers and distributors in four alternative constellations — two for operators established in a Member State making available there for the first time (point (a) for transport, service and primary production packaging, point (b) for other packaged products), and two for cross-border direct supply to end users in another Member State (points (c) and (d)). Points (c) and (d) are exactly what triggers the EPR authorised representative duty under Article 45(3).

Article 44 requires registration in every Member State where the producer makes available for the first time or unpacks packaged products without being an end user. Two figures from the article belong in any project plan: the authority grants the registration and the registration number within a maximum of twelve weeks after all required information has been provided (para. 11(b)), and changes must be notified without undue delay (para. 12). Paragraph 4 draws the consequence: without registration, no first making available.

One date remains open. The harmonised format for registration and reporting is an implementing act under Article 44(14) that the Commission should have adopted by 12 February 2026; Member States then have 18 months to align their national registers. That act has still not been published. Practically: the registration duty exists, but it continues to run through the existing national registers and formats — in Germany through LUCID. Waiting for a single EU form means waiting in the wrong place.

Which exemptions micro-enterprises really get

The PPWR mentions micro-enterprises in seven places, four of them in recitals and definitions. Three substantive reliefs remain — plus the role shift described above.

Article 25(4) — Annex V formats. By way of derogation from the ban on certain single-use formats, Member States may allow micro-enterprises to place on the market packaging in the formats and for the uses listed in point 3 of Annex V where it has been demonstrated that switching is not technically feasible. It is a Member State option, not a direct entitlement.

Article 29(13) — re-use targets. Economic operators are exempt from the re-use targets for a calendar year if in that year they made available no more than 1 000 kg of packaging on the territory of a Member State and fall within the definition of micro-enterprise. Both conditions must be met.

Article 33(4) — take-away re-use offer. Final distributors are exempt from the obligation to also offer cold and hot beverages and ready-prepared food in reusable packaging if they are micro-enterprises.

And now the counter-check that adds the most value in advisory conversations: there is no micro-enterprise or SME exemption from Articles 5 to 12, from the conformity assessment under Article 38, from the declaration of conformity under Article 39, from the retention periods, from labelling under Article 12, from EPR registration under Article 44 or from the traceability duty under Article 22. Being small does not exempt you — it may only give the duty a different addressee.

Where role duties meet the digital product passport

Three contact points are concrete enough to carry architecture decisions today.

The data carrier is the same one. Article 15(6) allows manufacturer details in the QR code under Article 12; Article 18(3) allows the same for importer details. Anyone building the carrier for PPWR labelling is building it for operator identification too.

Operator identity is mandatory passport content as well. The Ecodesign Regulation requires products carrying a passport to state the responsible economic operator. Model the PPWR roles once — which legal entity is manufacturer, importer, producer for which SKU in which market — and you have answered the same question for the ESPR requirements.

The traceability in Article 22 is a data model, not a document. Five or ten years of supply relationships per packaging batch will not survive in a file share. That link between identifier, batch and operator is exactly what a product passport data model already carries.

Clarifying your own role in five steps

1. Determine roles per SKU and market, not per company

The same company can be manufacturer for item A (own brand), importer for item B (third-country sourcing) and merely distributor for item C. Build a matrix: SKU × target market × role in the conformity chain × role in the EPR chain.

2. Actively hunt for own brands and modifications

Walk the assortment against Article 21: where does your brand appear on the packaging? Where do you repack, bundle, re-band or over-label? Every hit means manufacturer duties under Article 15 — or, for micro-enterprises with an EU supplier, a documented shift onto that supplier.

3. Verify and document micro-enterprise status

Headcount and turnover or balance sheet total under Recommendation 2003/361/EC as applicable on 11 February 2025 — including the rules on linked and partner enterprises. Anyone relying on the shift must additionally evidence that the supplier is located in the Union. Both belong in the file, not in memory.

4. Anchor access and information rights in contracts

As an importer: access to the technical documentation for 5 or 10 years, with response times that respect the 10-day deadline. As a manufacturer with upstream suppliers: the information duty in Article 16, referring expressly to Regulation (EU) 2025/40. As a distributor: the producer’s registration number as an onboarding field.

5. Appoint the authorised representatives separately

Check both roles individually: do we need a representative under Article 17 (optional, conformity file)? And must we appoint an EPR authorised representative under Article 45(3) in a Member State where we are not established (mandatory for Article 3(15)(c) and (d))? One mandate never covers both.

Frequently asked questions

As a micro-enterprise, are we exempt from PPWR obligations?

No. The regulation contains no general exemption for micro-enterprises. In one specific constellation it shifts the manufacturer role onto the supplier — where you have own-brand packaging made and the supplier is located in the Union (Art. 15(12), Art. 21 second subparagraph). Beyond that there are three targeted reliefs: Annex V formats (Art. 25(4)), re-use targets at up to 1 000 kg per year and Member State (Art. 29(13)) and the take-away re-use offer (Art. 33(4)). Labelling, EPR registration and information duties remain.

We buy pre-packed goods inside the EU and resell them. What do we owe?

You are a distributor under Article 19, as long as you do not rebrand or modify. Before making available, verify: registration of the producer in the register under Article 44, labelling under Article 12, and the manufacturer or importer details under Article 15(5) and (6) or Article 18(3). Add storage and transport conditions, corrective measures where non-conformity is suspected, and the traceability duty under Article 22. The moment your brand goes on the packaging, you become the manufacturer.

Does an extra label make us the manufacturer?

It can. Article 21 turns on whether the modification could affect compliance with the requirements of the regulation. A shipping label on an outer carton usually will not; a sleeve covering mandatory Article 12 information, or an additional label changing the material composition of the packaging unit, very much will. That assessment belongs in the documentation, not in an assumption.

Do we need an authorised representative in the EU?

Two separate questions. A representative under Article 17 is voluntary and useful where the manufacturer cannot keep the file available in the Union itself. A representative for extended producer responsibility under Article 45(3) is mandatory for producers under Article 3(15)(c) and (d) in every Member State where they make available for the first time and are not established; Member States may additionally require one for third-country producers.

How fast must we respond to an authority request?

The regulation names two deadlines. Information and documentation demonstrating conformity must be made available within 10 days of receipt of the request (Art. 15(10) for manufacturers, Art. 17(2)(d) for authorised representatives, Art. 18(8) for importers). Where non-conformity is suspected, the market surveillance authority must be informed immediately (Art. 15(8), Art. 18(6), Art. 19(5)). Ten days is tight when the file sits with a supplier in a third country.

Does the micro-enterprise rule also apply to EPR registration?

No. Article 15(12) and Article 21, second subparagraph shift the manufacturer role expressly only “for the purposes of this Article” and “for the purposes of Article 15”. Whoever is a producer within the meaning of Article 3(15) remains one — with registration under Article 44 and EPR duties under Article 45, regardless of company size.

Read next

• Digital product passport in 15 minutes
• PPWR regulation: the EU packaging rules explained
• PPWR declaration of conformity: mandatory fields and template
• PPWR Article 5: PFAS limits and heavy metals
• PPWR labelling: which label applies from when
• LUCID packaging register: registration and duties
• Extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging
• Conformity assessment: modules and notified bodies
• ESPR regulation: ecodesign requirements
• How to implement DPP: checklist
• PPWR current status: deadlines, deferrals and missing acts

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR)
• Recommendation 2003/361/EC concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
• Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (Articles 8 and 8a — extended producer responsibility)
• Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 on a Single Market For Digital Services (DSA)
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR)
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products